Microsoft to Immediately Comply with EU Remedies

Updated: Its appeal shot down, Microsoft says it will begin complying immediately with EC penalties, including unbundling Windows Media Player and sharing communications protocols with rivals.

A European Union judge has denied Microsoft Corp. a reprieve from the antitrust penalties imposed by the European Commission in Marcha serious blow to Microsoft's case. Microsoft said it would begin complying with the order immediately.

In a 91-page decision issued on Wednesday morning, Judge Bo Vesterdorf, the president of the EU's Court of First Instance (CFI), said Microsoft had failed to prove its case. "The application must therefore be dismissed in its entirety," he wrote.

The decision forces Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without bundling Windows Media Player and to reveal secret communications protocols. While Microsoft may still appeal the CFI's decision with the European Court of Justice, the company said it will begin complying right away.